Folk Musician Targeted by AI Fakes and Copyright Troll

Murphy Campbell, a folk artist, discovered songs on her Spotify profile that she hadn’t uploaded, with vocals that didn’t seem right. It appeared someone took her YouTube performances, created AI covers, and uploaded them under her name. AI detectors confirmed these were likely AI-generated. After some effort, Campbell got the fake tracks removed, though one remained on Spotify under a different profile. Spotify is testing a system for artists to approve songs on their profiles, but Campbell is skeptical. On the day a Rolling Stone article discussed her situation, videos were uploaded to YouTube by someone named Murphy Rider, leading to copyright claims against Campbell’s videos. The claims were over public domain songs, such as “In the Pines.” The distributor, Vydia, released these claims, banned the uploader, and their spokesperson stated that only 0.02 percent of their YouTube Content ID claims were invalid. They also clarified the AI covers issue was unrelated. Vydia faced significant backlash, including threats, prompting office evacuations. Campbell believes the AI and copyright issues are complex and require attention beyond just Vydia’s involvement.